US condemns Venezuela election, readies sanctions

The US on Monday formally condemned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s electoral victory as an exercise in fraud and said new sanctions were forthcoming. “The United States stands with democratic nations in support of the Venezuelan people and will take swift economic and diplomatic actions to support the restoration of their democracy,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. On Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump issued an order prohibiting the purchase and sale of any Venezuelan government debt, including any bonds issued by PDVSA, the state oil company, and Venezuela’s Central Bank. State Department officials Monday declined to comment on additional potential sanctions the US was considering, but US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told reporters Sunday that oil sanctions were “under active review.” Officials at State, the Department of Energy and within the White House have been studying potential, oil-related sanctions on Venezuela for months, […]